Consortium completes work on ethylene pipeline in Germany

10 April 2012 17:31[Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--?xml:namespace>Germany’s long-delayed 400,000 tonne/year ethylene pipeline to connect BASF’s petrochemicals hub at Ludwigshafen in Rhineland-Palatinate with chemical sites in Bavaria has been completed, the consortium that built the pipeline said on Tuesday.

Ethylen-Pipeline Sud (EPS), which includes BASF and other chemical producers, also confirmed that the pipeline would start up this summer.

EPS’ general manager Werner Dohler added that a court in Stuttgart last month rejected several lawsuits brought by residents who objected to the pipeline’s construction and operation.

The 370km pipeline had been built in accordance with high technological standards, ensuring the safe and environmentally responsible shipment of ethylene, he said.

Court cases and objections delayed the project by about four years, driving costs up to around €200m ($263m). The project was estimated to cost about €150m in 2006.

The pipeline connects Ludwigshafen with chemical producers at sites in Munchsmunster, Gendorf and Burghausen in Bavaria, where some plants could become uncompetitive without connection to the ethylene pipeline.